Shloka 12
Parīkṣit-janma-saṃkaṭa and Kuntī’s petition to Vāsudeva (परिक्षिज्जन्मसंकटं कुन्त्याः प्रार्थना च)
सुमनोभिर्विचित्राभिरपूपै: कूसरेण च । शड्खादींश्व निधीन् सर्वान् निधिपालांश्व सर्वशः
sumanobhir vicitrābhir apūpaiḥ kūsareṇa ca | śaṅkhādīṃś ca nidhīn sarvān nidhipālāṃś ca sarvaśaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “With many kinds of beautiful flowers, with ritual cakes (apūpa), and with other offerings as well, they honored all the treasures—beginning with the conch and the rest—and, in every way, the guardians of those treasures.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores dharmic kingship and ritual propriety: prosperity and power are to be approached with reverence, purity, and rightful offerings, acknowledging both the wealth itself and the forces (guardians) that protect and regulate it.
In the Ashvamedhika context, ceremonial worship/propitiation is being performed using flowers and food-offerings; the reciter notes that all treasures (symbolically headed by the conch) and their guardians are honored comprehensively as part of the rite.